


It'll All Make Sense Again

by liv_andlet_die



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Batfamily Feels, Big Brother Dick Grayson, Family, Sad with a Happy Ending, batbros, batbrothers, batfamily, tim drake is tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 08:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14787177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liv_andlet_die/pseuds/liv_andlet_die
Summary: Dick finds Tim asleep on a rooftop and big brother mode kicks in. Tim's just trying his best.





	It'll All Make Sense Again

**Author's Note:**

> Short fic promted by the-imaginative-fox on tumblr!! If you read it here too, thank you so much again! It made my day to actually get a prompt, and recognizing your username from the comments you've left on my earlier fics gave me the biggest smile. I hope you like it!
> 
> Prompt: "You don't have to deal with everything alone."

It’s a sad thing that a rooftop isn’t the strangest place Dick has found Tim asleep.

The kid is in costume, sleek black fabric covering most of his facial features. Though, even with the cowl on, Dick is used to searching for the frown behind it.

It’s been a fairly easy night of patrol. Damian is sick at home for the first time, with a real honest-to-god cold, and Bruce is off-world with some League-related issues to deal with (Dick didn’t ask this time), so he’d been volun-told to patrol the city tonight.

Not that he has other, better things to do on a Friday. Not like he has his own city to watch over. He’s not bitter about it at all.

Though, now, he’s actually kind of glad he’s the one patrolling Gotham’s skyline tonight. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here to find Tim.

He’s loath to wake up the little bird, as it’s the first time in a while that Dick has seen his brother so relaxed and at ease, but a Gotham rooftop is not the greatest (or safest) place to take a power nap.

Dick knows better than to think this is a power nap.

Keeping slightly on guard, Dick nudges his little brother gently, half-expecting a reflexive punch to be thrown his way. “Red… Timmy, wake up bud.”

Tim jolts awake, a hand lashing out not to punch, but to grab tightly to Dick’s wrist from where it hovers near his shoulder. He doesn’t move, letting Tim’s brain catch up with his body. He watches as white lenses go wide, then relax into slits as his grip loosens.

“Nightwing…”

“Hey kiddo.”

“What are you doing here?”

The corner of his mouth turns up into a half-smile. “I could ask you the same question.”

Tim frowns. “I’m… on a stakeout.”

“Yeah?” Dick shifts to sit down next to his little brother, leaning against the solid brick chimney behind them. “How’s that going for ya?”

Those white lenses narrow further as his shoulders hunch defensively. He taps a few buttons on his gauntlet, a holographic screen popping up. Dick can’t see what Tim can from the angle he’s at, but judging from the slight tension leaving Tim’s body, nothing has gone awry just yet.

“It’s fine.” The screen disappears as Tim drops his arm. “I just closed my eyes for a few minutes.”

Dick nods. “Okay, well if you wanna close your eyes for a few more minutes, I can hang out here for a while. In case something pops up.”

“I’m awake now.” Tim shakes his head. “You don’t have to do that.”

“What if I want to?”

“It’s fine, Dick.” He sighs, rubbing gloved fingers against tired eyes. Or, at least in the general vicinity of his eyes behind the cowl.

“Not like I have anything else to do, Timbo, the city’s been surprisingly quiet tonight.”

It doesn’t take a detective to notice Tim’s slight flinch and realize that _that_ was the wrong thing to say.

“Besides, I wouldn’t mind spending some quality time with my little bro.” Dick manages to take his foot out of his mouth and recover quickly enough, bumping his shoulder against Tim’s. “And it’s never a good idea to go on a stakeout alone.”

Tim shrugs off the shoulder bump. “Bruce does it all the time.”

That sentence earns him a very dramatic eyeroll, which Dick knows Tim can see behind the mask.  “And when has Bruce ever been an example of healthy habits?”

“It’s not a big deal, Dick.”

He sighs, leaning his head back against the wall. Dick knows – the whole family knows – that Tim has a real knack for deflecting when he doesn’t want to deal with things. Dick also knows that the best tactic against it is usually the direct approach.

“ **You don’t have to deal with everything alone** , Tim.”

He feels Tim’s body tense up beside his own and figures he’s hit the nail on the head.

“I don’t know what you mean…”

“We’re a team, Timmy. A family.” Dick lolls his head to the side to give his little brother a concerned look, which Tim quickly averts his eyes from. “We’re a built-in support system. Use it.”

“I don’t – I didn’t need it. It’s an easy case, I can handle it.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, Tim. But stake outs are rough and it’s easier to do them in pairs. So you don’t exhaust yourself.”

He can tell he’s hitting a nerve here somewhere, but Dick knows that all he needs to do is wait until the dam breaks.

“I’m not going to.” Tim presses his lips together tightly, fiddling with the edge of his cape. “It’s just one stake out.”

“Until it’s two stake outs, then four. Then suddenly you’re passed out on a rooftop and one of us is taking your ass back to the manor and into a real bed.”

“I didn’t _pass out_.”

Dick closes his eyes at the harsh tone, knowing that Tim is in the process of reprimanding himself for it.

“Sorry.” He mumbles, finally. “But I didn’t. It was just… I just needed a rest.”

“Yeah…” Dick murmurs. “Yeah, I think you do, kiddo.”

They don’t say anything for a while, sitting beside each other in silence on a grimy old rooftop. It’s comfortable, because it always is with Dick and Tim, but they both know that it’s got to break at some point.

“I just worry about you, babybird.”

“…You don’t have to.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I do.”

Tim sighs, reaching up and pulling off the cowl. Dick notices how long his hair is getting, that it’s falling in his face now that the cowl isn’t pulling it back. A few lines of spirit gum are still stuck to his cheekbones, but Tim doesn’t seem to care.

“I’m just tired.”

“I know.”

“I’ve just got a lot going on right now.”

“I know.”

“I’m still getting my case work done.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

Tim frowns, tilting his ever-so-slightly to the left. “Then what are you worried about?”

“ _You_ , Tim.”

Tim blinks, his brows raising a little in surprise, and it makes Dick want to shake some sense into him.

“But I’m fine.”

“Sure.”

“I am.”

“Okay.”

“ _Dick._ ”

“Tim?”

They’re staring each other down at this point: Tim, defensive and self-righteous. Dick, stubborn and unrelentingly kind.

It doesn’t take long for Tim’s features to soften into defeat, slumping forward to rest his forehead against his brother’s shoulder.

“How do you do that?”

Dick smiles when he hears the muttered question, raising a hand to rest gently on the back of Tim’s head. “Do what?”

Tim doesn’t answer, just moving to curl an arm around Dick’s waist and settle in more comfortably. Dick can feel all the tension leave his little brothers body as he moves to wrap one arm around the boy’s shoulders, tucking his chin on top of Tim’s head. It feels like only moments go by before Tim’s breathing slows and the rise and fall of his chest is steady against Dick’s side.

Nightwing shifts a little to press a button on his ear piece, the comm crackling to life.

“Master Dick?”

“Hey Al, can you send the Batwing to my location?”

“Right away, sir. Any particular reason?”

“Just got a baby bird here for pick up.”

“Master Timothy? Is everything alright?”

Dick looks down at Tim’s closed eyes and smiles.

“Yeah. Everything’s alright.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you want to send me prompts or just yell at me about batfam stuff, find me at notstars-doors.tumblr.com !!! :D


End file.
